Roland Garros 2026 Men’s Day 3

The curse of French Open five-setters struck again for Daniil Medvedev with the patchy sixth seed going out in his opening match on Tuesday 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

Australian wildcard Adam Walton earned the victory, his first defeat of a top 10 player to hand Medvedev a fourth Paris loss in a five-set match which lasted for almost three and a half hours.

Medvedev, a Rome semi-finalist, committed 59 unforced errors and converted on only five of 21 break chances against his No. 97 opponent

“I managed to take the match (lead) when he didn’t play that well. That’s it. I didn’t manage to raise my level enough to win the whole match, and that’s why I lost,” he said.

“In tennis you need to adapt to the things, and sometimes I’m not good enough to adapt to it, and sometimes I am.”

Given his dismal record here, Medvedev remained reluctant to pinpoint a cause:

“I don’t want to find excuses. I know why I don’t really play always my best in Roland Garros, but if I say it, it’s excuses. So I keep it to myself.”

Paris is by far the world major for Medvedev, who has lost in the first round in seven of his last 10 appearances..

Walton, who also beat Medvedev last August in Cincinnati, was thrilled: “It’s huge.” 

“I knew I could do it and I believed, so I’m just happy with my performance. I’m really excited right now.

“It was such an up-and-down match. I ⁠got off to a hot start, and I felt like the ebbs and flows of the match were quite large today. 

“I’m just really proud of my efforts ⁠in the fifth set, to come from a break down to get the win.”

2021 Paris runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the second round in well under an hour as French opponent Alexandre Muller retired with pain in his right clf to hand over a 6-2, 3-0 win to the Greek,

Tsitsipas is fighting his way out of a months-long slump which has left his former top 10 ranking down at 79th

But the unseeded threat felt in his element on another hot spring day as he played on the Chatrier showcourt.

“I’ve always felt like Chatrier has more of a kick to it. The heat always makes a court bouncier, it makes the clay dry up quicker, which has more of an effect ultimately.

“When we had rain here for a few days in a row in the past in the Roland Garros, I’ve always felt like the ball stays lower and you have the tendency to play longer rallies.”

Tsitsipas called this week’s heat “an extra challenge.”

“I’m mentally ready every single time to face it. I just want to make the most out of it in terms of grinding it out.

“It’s about who can withstand it better. The tennis feels like coming second when there is so much heat on the court.”

Croat veteran Marin Cilic, a 2022 semi-finalist, suffered a shock ouster at the hands of 17-year-old Frenchman Moise Kouame 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-1.

Kouame is the first teen to defeat a former Grand Slam winner (Cilic won the 2014 US Open) in a Grand Slam debut match since Marat Safin beat Andre Agassi here in 1998.

The youngster coached by Richard Gasquet is also the first player born in 2009 to win a matchrogrogrog at a major. Former French player Gasquet faced Cilic four times in his career (2-2).

“I felt rather good, well prepared,” the winner said. “I was ready.

“We worked a lot on the tactics, on how to approach the match.

“Yesterday I also practised a lot on these courts, and last year I also practised and played here.

“So I knew a bit about the atmosphere and the crowd that was present today.”

British No. 1 Cam Norrie retired with a rib complaint to send Paraguay’s Alfredo Vallejo into the second round 7-6 (7), 2-0.